introducing: phawlie and friends

khawsmo

wrex

phawlie

'the team'

mr. blawkh

g: so phawlie, what's it like being a bird-headed doll? is that a duck or a goose head?

phawlie: it's a bald eagle head, actually, g. being part doll, part predatory bird is about as good as it gets. i can swoop down on unsuspecting bunnies and accesorize at the same time. 

g: fascinating. tell me something about thre rest of the team? 

phawlie: i'd love to. khawsmo and wrex are my animal spirit guides. most people just have one. 

g: that makes you pretty exceptional then. but are you sure about dinosaurs functioning as animal spirit guides? sounds like a bit of a stretch to me. 

phawlie: yes. i'm sure. 

g: alright. guess i'll take your word for it. anyway, what do you have planned for us? 

phawlie: i thought i'd start by relating a dream i had the other night. 

g: looking forward to it. i suppose we ought to say something about the villainous mr. blawkh.

phawlie: he's a bit more complicated than that, g. let's not resort to stereotypes.        



one year older and

wiser too. happy birthday ... to you ruth!

pigtails & game day

last thursday i did something i've been meaning to do for a while: i did lucy's hair. i've attempted several times to sneak clips in her hair. sadly, she found it supremely entertaining to pull them right back out so i gave up for a while.

it was a long time coming but she finally has long enough hair in the back for pigtails. i know i've reminisced in the past of hazel's full-head of hair. her first pony and pigtails were around 4 or 5 months. this picture is at 6 months:

anyway, having the more annoying pigtails to distract her, lucy now leaves her clips in!

*deeply contented sigh* no more "what's your little boy's name?"

hazel's first soccer game was on saturday. it started like this:

but quickly turned into this:

why? i'm not entirely sure. we arrived close to on time and hazel jumped right into the warm-up:

and even started in the game:

ok, she's facing the wrong way and flexing or something, but she's on the field, apparently happy to be there:

not long after this last picture was taken, there occurred the meltdown of the century. she came to me, sobbing and saying, "the game is taking too long! i don't want to pway anymore! i want to go to the park! carry me!" after several minutes of placating on my part, she finally said her head was feeling yucky. i got her a water and tried to talk her into "helping the team" but she was done. any mention of playing soccer again re-opened the flood gates. she eventually decided i wasn't comforting enough and found her daddy. 

while he tried to calm her down, i followed lucy around:

 and took some darn cute pictures of her (if i do say so myself):

we've continued talking to hazel, trying to figure out what happened. grant thinks that she was scared by the mass of chaotic kids kicking each other the ball. very possible. she seems to want to go to practice on thursday but is determined to avoid any actual games. . . . don't worry, i'll let y'all know how it goes.

fútbol

hazel's first soccer practice was excellent. not at first, though. as soon as we stepped onto the grass, the floodgates opened. "i don't want to pway soccer!" she sobbed. after 5 or 10 minutes, she bucked up and headed out. coach nate had the kids do drills. dribbling:

throwing:

and running:

hazel did pretty well at all of those. she struggled most with listening:

we're working on that. after their running, they all had a good stretch:

i think their first game is going to be entertaining.

we don't always get out much. . .

because it usually ends up as a noisier, messier, more bloody version of this:

i posted this on facebook this morning and i seriously cannot stop giggling. i think my favorite parts are when the little boy trips in the beginning or when he gets hit in the face by the swing. why? i'm not sure. do i laugh when my girls get smashed in their faces or trip over their own feet? no . . . . . . . . . ok, maybe a little, but only after i know they're not seriously hurt. i mean, it happens all of the time (mainly the tripping, but they've taken swings [thankfully the soft-ish rubber kind] to the face many times). my kids always seem to be on a mission to lose a limb, get a concussion, or maim themselves in some way. please tell me they're not the only ones!

p.s. hazel has her first soccer practice tonight. it'll be interesting to see how that goes. . . never fear, friends, i'll be taking the camera.

35th

happy anniversary mom & dad!

exotic utah: week 2 - part b

thursday evening through saturday afternoon was our fugal family reunion up at heber valley camp. we arrived a bit late, unpacked the necessities and visited before dinner. the next day (friday) was filled with activities for the kids:

a short hike:

rock-climbing:

rock kissing:

and a ride on the lake in a paddleboat:

despite the long-face, lucy did have fun . . . . i think. . .

grace, carl, velvet, kate, brenda & mike

i'd like to say that hazel and lucy behaved as well as the above picture implies, but that would be a big, fat fib. they were far off their schedules and had the attitude, tantrums and scream-offs to prove it.

at this point in the reunion, grant's mom got very sick and had to go home. we were all sad to see her go. hazel was especially upset that she didn't get to say good-bye.

aunt janeil & grant heading for the talent show.

grace, lucy, laura & kate (lucy was pretty good about submitting to being babied)

hazel & sam (sam was so nice to hazel. she followed him all over wanting to play.)

hazel's favorite part of the whole reunion:

s'mores. she was convinced that we weren't camping until she got one. (she had reason to be confused: we weren't really roughing it, what with the cabins, air beds and heater. my kind of camping: keeping the outdoors outdoor.)

saturday was also fun-filled. our first stop was the swing:

after watching the first few riders, it was a struggle to get hazel to even get on the swing. we gave her a small push  before she said she was done.

i was sure lucy wouldn't have a problem but she didn't like the seat at all. so a small push was all she wanted.

i would have been content with a small push and even told the men in charge that i only wanted to be pulled up halfway. they either didn't hear me or thought it would be fun to witness my terror, because before i could take a breath i was 1000 ft (slight exaggeration) up a tree, hearing "let go!". so i closed my eyes and unclenched my fist. i screamed like a banshee. 

our group did a few more mini-courses where we swung across crocodile infested water:

and, in a delirious state, collected our antidote, which happened to be surrounded by lava:

after that it was on to the zip line. we weren't the only group there so the wait was long. luckily at each of the course sites there was a sand box for the wee ones:

the kids were filthy but at least they were entertained. fast forward an hour or so:

grant bravely climbing the rope ladder...

...quickly crossing the rickety bridge...

...and whoosh!

i was bullied talked into doing it as well:

"don't look down...don't look down...don't look..." *whimper*

*sob* "why?!"

"ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" yes, think 'banshee'.

thank you, aunt lois & uncle don, for organizing such a wonderful reunion!